The Language of StampsYou have to see this lovely and wonderfully illustrated post on the blog Poemas del río Wang about the now-vanished delicate art of stamp placement. Depending on how you placed a stamp on an envelope, it told an informed recipient you sent a kiss, you were thinking of them — or (sadly) that you were not free. Fascinating — and something it would be charming to revive for Valentine's Day, I think.

Vintage Views of LondonSlide show of gritty and beautiful black and white photos of London, from the 1950s to mid 2000. Via things magazine.450 Free Online MoviesOpen Culture has assembled a great list of links to free online films arranged according to genre — check out Comedy & Drama; Film Noir, Horror & Hitchcock; Westerns & John Wayne; Silent Films; Documentaries, and Animation. Lots of really interesting stuff.

Charles Dickens's Inner ChildA lovely, meditative essay on Dickens by Christopher Hitchens — his last one for Vanity Fair before his untimely passing last month.

Corner Portraits by Irving PennLove this striking black and white portrait series by Irving Penn — the stark, angled backdrops (a bit reminiscent of the Expressionist sets in the German silent film The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari) really make the personalities of the subjects stand out. Included here are Marlene Dietrich, Salvador Dali, Georgia O'Keefe, Igor Stravinsky and the Duchess of Windsor among others — though it's the last photo of the Ballet Society that really strikes my eye (that amazing dancer!).